Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly
by jacobk
Summary: Earth caught a lucky break when Clark Kent grew up to be the kind of man who could earn the nickname of the Big Blue Boy Scout. This story could be considered a look at whether that was something inevitable and irreversible.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I find the Clark vs. Lex stuff the most interesting part of the Superman mythos, and I thought you guys might enjoy my take on their dynamic, even if it is a little derivative.

ooOoo

Clark Kent was far from the only person to arrive in Metropolis with a pocket full of lint and a head full of dreams, but his dreams were a little bigger than most. Sure, he wanted to make it in the news business, but his real reason for moving to the big city wasn't to find a career: it was to find his destiny.

Clark found out early on that he was different from most kids. Lifting the family tractor over his head when he was nine was a big clue. When his parents sat him down and explained that he was not only adopted, but that he had in fact been born on a planet orbiting a distant star, home to a race with powers beyond anything humans had produced... on one level it was a shock, but on another level it had just confirmed something he already knew.

He had spent years learning to control his powers, learning to fit in, learning right from wrong. Now he was finally ready to strike out on his own and start using his gifts to help people.

His introduction was everything he could have dreamed of. A massive airliner lost both engines shortly after takeoff and was headed for certain disaster until Clark flew up to gently guide it to the ground. It wasn't even heavy-the hardest part of the rescue was finding a spot to support the plane that wouldn't lead to too much structural damage. He saved hundreds of lives, and was hailed as the biggest thing to hit Metropolis since, well, since the city was founded.

Clark's next public appearance came when he foiled a bank robbery. He had been shot before, of course, but absorbing carefully measured assaults from his father on the firing range couldn't begin to measure up to the thrill of standing unharmed while some gangster unloaded an entire magazine at him from point blank range.

Within a month of his debut violent crime in Metropolis fell to more or less nothing. For the first month after that Clark was thrilled with his accomplishment. Over the next couple of months he started to get a little bored. He didn't have much of a social life as Clark Kent since he wanted to keep his evenings free for superheroing, but with no crime to foil he was spending most evenings at home by himself. He was ready to help out should there be some kind of natural disaster or another airplane crash to prevent, but those just didn't come up that often.

It was a Monday night, after an entire week of absolutely nothing to do in his caped persona, when Clark came to a decision: he was going to go check out his neighborhood bar. He had never been big on the social scene back in Smallville, but he was going to go crazy if he didn't get out of his apartment one way or another. After months of constant vigilance and countless lives saved, Clark figured he deserved to have a little fun.

It only took a half an hour for Clark to realize that he wasn't having any fun. Sitting at a bar by himself, nursing a glass of whiskey-the alcohol didn't have any more effect on him than any of the other poisons that he had tried, but claiming a bar stool without ordering a drink just seemed rude-watching other people have a good time with their friends was, if anything, making him feel even more isolated. He was about to give it up as a bad idea and head home when he heard his name being called out from across the room.

"Clark! Hey, Clark!"

Clark turned to see who had spoken just as the man approached the bar. He was not quite so tall nor so broad as Clark, but was still solidly built. He was also completely bald. He had a friendly grin on his face that was somewhat belied by the sharp intelligence in his eyes as he examined Clark. The grin faded slightly as the man took in Clark's lack of recognition.

"If it helps, try to imagine me with a full head of hair."

Clark squinted slightly as he mentally replaced the shiny dome he was seeing with a more normal hair style, then felt his eyes widen in realization.

"Lex! What happened?"

"The thing is, Clark, that a bald spot makes you look like a doofus, but going completely bald is a choice," Lex explained, clapping Clark on the shoulder as he took the stool next to him at the bar. "Buy me a drink, will you?"

Lex had been Smallville's resident rich kid, and something of a hellraiser. They had never really been close back home, but Clark found that here in Metropolis that Smallville connection was enough to make Lex feel more like a long lost friend than a distant acquaintance.

"As if you can't afford your own."

"That's not the point, Clark," Lex said, shaking his head. "Could you maybe pretend to act normal, just this once?"

Clark sighed, but signaled to the bartender to bring another glass. Once Lex was properly outfitted with a drink in hand, Clark turned to face him expectantly.

"So what are you doing here, Lex?"

"Come on, Clark, I was always too big for that one stoplight town," Lex replied. "Really, I should be asking you that question. What could possibly lure the world's biggest farm boy to head out for the big city?"

"Just wanted to see something new, I guess," Clark said, shrugging.

Lex laughed.

"Well, you certainly picked the right time to come here," Lex said. "What are the odds that Superman would show up so soon after we moved to town?"

Clark chuckled, but it sounded a little strained even to his own ears. "Lucky us."

"Yeah," Lex said, then stood. "Come on."

Clark picked up his drink and followed Lex as he weaved through the crowd toward the back of the bar. One of the pool tables there was open, and Lex pulled a couple of quarters out of his pocket, filling the coin slots half way to what would be needed to start a game before looking at Clark with a challenge in his eyes. Clark grinned before fishing out two quarters of his own, dropping them in place, and shoving the mechanism in to release the pool balls.

Lex gathered up the one through nine balls and racked them in a diamond formation, nodding at Clark to take the break.

"You been in the city long enough to pick up nine ball, farm boy?"

"I think I understand the basics," Clark said, chalking up his cue stick.

The game was simple enough: each turn the cue had to strike the lowest numbered ball remaining on the table first. Sink any ball and you get to keep playing, and the winner is the player who pots the nine ball.

Execution was also extremely simple for Clark. Moving the cue stick in the right direction with the right level of force was child's play compared to the effort he had to put in not to leave fingerprints behind every time he turned a doorknob. With his superior senses, judging the proper angle to strike the cue in order to produce the result he wanted was pretty much automatic.

Clark sunk the five ball on the break, then took down the one, two, three, and four in quick succession. He glanced at Lex as he lined up his shot on the six. Lex was watching with anticipation, obviously eager for his chance to play. Clark felt a mild sense of guilt at the realization that he wasn't just playing by himself, and missed the shot on the six. He did make sure to leave the cue ball sitting behind the eight, cutting off any chance for Lex to do anything productive.

Lex just smiled at him before lining up for his shot. Coming in at a sharp downward angle, he jumped the cue over the eight. The cue caromed off the six, struck a rail, and curved neatly into the nine ball, dropping it into the side pocket. It was the most ridiculous shot Clark had ever seen in person.

Lex barely reacted as the shot played out, only smiling slightly as the cue ball rolled to a stop and secured his victory. He then fixed Clark with a surprisingly serious look.

"Not bad, farm boy, but you're going to have to bring your A game if you want to beat me."

Clark accepted the implicit challenge and headed over to the change machine to break a dollar bill. He didn't hang out in pool halls much back in Smallville, but he understood the ground rules: loser pays, loser breaks.

Clark ran the table in the second game, methodically sinking each ball in order.

In the third game, Lex sank the nine ball on the break.

"Two shots, two wins," Clark said. "You're pretty good at this game."

"Legacy of a misspent youth," Lex replied. "I have to admit, I'm a little curious about where you honed your skills. I don't remember seeing you out much in Smallville."

"Well, I've always been a good student of geometry."

"Hmm," Lex hummed noncommitally, then shrugged. "Well, I know how to quit when I'm ahead. We're probably getting close to your bedtime, anyways."

With that Lex clapped him on the shoulder and headed out of the bar. Clark just smiled as he tidied up around the table. He'd had a good time hanging out with his friend, and-he spun around, using his x-ray vision to take a quick look over Metropolis-no violent crimes had been committed while he'd been enjoying himself.

Clark was willing to call this outing a success, even if he did have a losing record at the pool table.

ooOoo

The next day Lex caught up with Clark as he was on his way to the bar.

"Evening, farm boy," Lex said, nodding at Clark before continuing to walk in the opposite direction.

"Not interested in a rematch?" Clark asked, a little disappointed.

"To be honest, our games didn't seem particularly interactive," Lex said. "Besides, it's a nice night for a walk, isn't it?"

Clark took a look around, then shrugged. There wasn't much cloud cover tonight, but it wasn't like you could see the stars in Metropolis anyways. The temperature did seem pleasant enough, although Clark was always a little unsure about that sort of thing, being immune to the effects of cold and heat as he was.

He decided to follow Lex mostly out of curiosity about what he was up to. Lex didn't seem to mind the company as he set a meandering path through the city. He didn't speak for almost half an hour.

"You know what's amazing about life, Clark?"

"I don't know," Clark said, "lots of things, I guess."

"It all starts with chaos and vicious competition. Trees fight each other for sunlight. Insects battle over every last scrap of nutrition. And people compete for money. There's no guiding hand, nobody setting any rules," Lex said, turning to face Clark. His eyes were alight with enthusiasm. "And yet, out of all that chaos comes such amazing things. The beauty of a flower. The sweetness of a honeycomb. And human civilization. All born from that desperate chaos.

"The question is," Lex continued, "what happens when somebody stifles that creative energy and imposes his own vision of the proper order of things?"

Lex turned and kept walking along the street. Clark took a moment to process what he said, then scrambled to catch up. The effort didn't tax him physically, but his voice was a little sharp when he finally spoke.

"Are you saying you have a problem with Superman?"

Lex took a sidelong glance over at Clark. "Interesting that that's what you jump to."

"It was pretty obvious what point you were driving at, there," Clark snapped. "And you didn't answer my question."

Lex paused in thought for a minute, carefully considering his words.

"The thing is, Clark, that humanity does all its best work when it's free."

"I don't see what that has to do with Superman," Clark replied.

"How free can you truly be when some kind of alien superbeing is out there telling you what to do?"

"When he intervenes to stop violent crimes, you mean," Clark said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The way I see it, either you're free or you're not," Lex said. "And if you're not free to make your own mistakes, well..."

Lex hefted his right arm up to chest level for emphasis, and Clark's eyes widened as he noticed for the first time that he was carrying a cinder block. Clark looked around, taking stock of where they were. They had wandered into the financial district, which was completely deserted at this time of night. A construction zone down at the end of the block must have supplied the cinder block in Lex's hand, and the two of them were standing in front of a lunch place that catered to the business crowds. It was shut down now, but the large plate glass window still stood out in the moon light.

"Lex... what are you doing?"

"Spreading a little chaos," Lex replied, dropping the cinder block down to his side and beginning to swing it back and forth.

"You shouldn't do this."

"Why?" Lex asked, suddenly looking Clark straight in the eye. "Is Superman going to show up and arrest me?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

Clark looked down. He couldn't reveal his secret identity. Even if Lex seemed to have guessed it, he couldn't possibly have anything more than suspicion to go on right now. Hauling him in would confirm everything he thought he knew. More than that, Clark didn't really want to arrest his friend. He racked his brain, trying to think of some way of talking Lex out of this, until his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crashing glass.

Lex let out a joyous whoop, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Clark glared at him, ready to say something until a light came on in the window above the shop, accompanied by muttered curses that had to have come from the store's owner.

Lex took off running and Clark chased after him, mortified at the thought of being caught at the scene of a crime. The two of them raced through mostly deserted streets, not slowing down despite the total lack of any pursuit. Clark found himself impressed with Lex's stamina-despite his past as a general ne'er-do-well Lex was maintaining a decent pace and didn't show any signs of slowing down. He finally ended their flight by ducking into a bar that looked a little more upscale than the kind of place Clark would usually frequent.

Clark waited until they had secured a booth and a little privacy to lay into his friend.

"Are you crazy? Why the hell would you do something like that? What's the point?"

Lex just grinned in the face of Clark's anger. "The point is to live a little, farm boy. Speaking of which..."

Lex stood, his attention apparently captured by something over Clark's shoulder. Clark turned around and saw a beautiful woman sitting by herself at the bar. He automatically stood up and followed a few paces behind Lex, but stopped dead when he recognized Lois Lane.

"Hello there, Lois," Lex spoke up as he settled into the seat next to her. Something in his tone of voice packed a sense of danger and intrigue into the simple greeting.

"Do I know-Smallville?" Lois said, obviously surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Clark felt his heart sink. Over the last few months he had spent a disproportionate amount of his time at work trying to woo Lois, and had experienced a disheartening lack of progress. The one thing he had used to justify a sense of hope was that she had taken to calling him by what he chose to believe was an affectionate nickname. To hear her call Lex the same thing was disheartening.

It made sense, in a way-Clark was hardly the only person from Smallville-but it hurt to realize that he apparently didn't have any kind of special place in Lois's heart.

"I'm from a small town," Lex said, disrupting Clark's train of thought, "but that doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun."

Clark felt an uncharacteristic spark of anger as he observed Lois's reaction. Her pupils were dilated, her heartbeat had picked up... she was actually attracted to Lex Luthor.

"Now you're making me wonder what your idea of fun is."

Lex responded with what could only be described as a cocky grin. "Play your cards right and you might find out."

Clark had seen enough. He turned on his heel and walked right out of the bar, dumbstruck by the shock of seeing the woman he was falling for-a woman he genuinely respected-fall for a smooth talker like Lex. He didn't really pay attention to where he was going, wandering the streets in a haze until he found himself in front of his apartment building around the time he usually went to bed.

His alien constitution would carry him through the day despite the lack of sleep, but it couldn't do anything about a broken heart.

ooOoo

Clark didn't even start to walk home until long after the sun had gone down. He had had a truly awful day, and he was in no mood for company. Still, he automatically stopped and turned when he heard a familiar voice call out.

"Clark! Sorry about ditching you last night. But," Lex paused, and his expression shifted from something mildly apologetic to a full on shit-eating grin, "it was totally worth it."

A sudden image of Lois flashed into Clark's mind, hair plastered to her face by sweat as she threw her head back and howled at the ceiling-he shook his head, trying to dispel the thought.

"You're such an asshole, Lex."

It had been tough, watching Lois flit around the office with an extra spring in her step and near-constant grin on her face, but that hadn't been the worst part of his day. Lex's little act of vandalism, which five months ago wouldn't have even made the paper, managed to make the front page. That sparked a wave of crime as everybody assumed Superman had disappeared, which in turn sparked a wave of questions about why he was stopping some crimes and not others after he rounded up all of the crooks. All in all it was a frustrating experience, and dealing politely with the source of his problems was beyond him at the moment.

"You say that like you didn't already know that about me," Lex said, before raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, hey, I got you something, to make up for it."

"You can't just buy your way out of everything," Clark replied, but found himself automatically following Lex down the street. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Lex reached into his suit to retrieve an object and toss it to Clark. He caught it automatically and stared at it for several seconds, waiting for things to make sense.

"A pine cone?" Clark finally asked.

"One of nature's little miracles. It's sealed shut so tightly that even a strong man would have a hard time prying it open with his bare hands," Lex said, giving Clark a significant look, "But the resin inside melts when it's exposed to a high enough temperature. When fire rages through a forest, amidst all the terrible destruction it causes it also spreads the seeds for the next generation of trees. If somebody could stop forest fires from happening... they'd ultimately cause the extinction of the pine tree."

Clark stayed silent, thinking over Lex's words as he followed him to the back of a derelict warehouse. It wasn't the kind of place he associated with Lex-glancing around, Clark confirmed they were in one of the more sketchy neighborhoods of Metropolis, rendered safe by Superman's presence too recently for any but the most desperate citizens to move into the area-but Lex approached the door with confidence, opening it up and striding inside.

"The forest service fights fires when they threaten people's lives, you know," Clark commented as he stepped inside.

"They try," Lex said, walking further into the room, "but they're only human. It's a little different when some alien force makes human agency irrelevant, isn't it?"

The warehouse was dark, though Clark could of course see perfectly clearly. Lex pulled a book of matches from his pocket, striking one and casting his face into sharp relief in the firelight. He then touched the lit match to the book and dropped it as the whole thing blazed up. He did the whole thing so smoothly that Clark just stood and stared in shock, dimly processing the strong smell of gasoline as the flaming book of matches fell to the ground.

The carpet must have been soaked through with gasoline. It caught immediately, long streamers of fire racing in all four directions across the ground and then up the walls. Lex just watched the whole thing with a satisfied look on his face.

Clark raced across the room and finally gave in to the urge to punch Lex in the jaw. He held back enough not to take his head off, but the punch did send him staggering back to fall on the ground.

"Are you insane?"

Lex just threw his head back and laughed.

"This is your chance to be transformed, Clark," Lex said, spreading his arms wide. "Just turn around and walk away."

Clark stared down at him, momentarily tempted. Lex clearly had at the very least a strong suspicion as to his secret identity, and was obviously a terrible influence. He was no doubt also up to something that would break Lois's heart. What was worse, with the way the fire was spreading it would be almost impossible to save his life without giving away Clark's secret. Letting him die in a fire he had created would almost be poetic justice.

Still, in the end it was no decision at all. With a sigh, Clark knelt down to pick Lex up in a bridle style carry before dashing towards the exterior wall that was least severely on fire. Turning at the last minute, he took the brunt of the impact on his back as they smashed through the wall and out to relative safety.

Clark walked out and dumped Lex in the middle of the abandoned street before turning to evaluate the fire. It hadn't spread to the neighboring buildings, but it would soon if he didn't do anything. He was pretty sure he could put it out with his freeze breath, but it was a tricky balancing act. Too strong of a blast could do tremendous damage to the area, but too weak of a blast would just be feeding more oxygen to the flames.

"I did get you one other thing, Clark."

Lex's voice interrupted his mental calculations, but Clark didn't react. He could deal with Lex later. At least that was the plan, until a nauseous sensation came washing over him and set him to swaying on his feet. Lex walked around him into view, looking surprisingly unruffled for all that had happened. In his hand was a lead box, which he had opened to reveal a glowing green crystal.

"You see, Clark, when you came to this planet a few bits of your homeworld tagged along for the ride. Tremendously expensive stuff to track down, but I have my ways," Lex said, smiling genially, though his expression was a little hard to make out against the backdrop of flames. "It's fascinating, really. Rays from the sun hit most people and they get a tan, maybe skin cancer. They hit you and they make you, well, you. Meanwhile, the radiation from this little gem passes through most people with no effect. But when it hits you it cancels out all of those little extra gifts that lift you above everybody else. I call it kryptonite."

Lex suddenly hauled off and socked Clark in the jaw. In his brief career as a superhero Clark had taken bullets to the face and brought speeding semi-trucks crashing to a halt. Under the influence of the kryptonite, Lex's punch rocked Clark back like nothing he had felt before. He staggered backward several steps before losing his balance and falling forward onto his hands and knees.

He lifted his head and looked up. The fire had picked up, and Clark was starting to feel his super-senses fade as the kryptonite took hold. He had to squint to pick out Lex's form. The heat from the fire was intense, and little heat shimmers were distorting his vision in a way he had never experienced before.

"You must have wondered. Floating up there in the sky, looking down on all the people crawling around on the ground. The thought must have crossed your mind," Lex said, no longer smiling, "watching people struggle and work and bleed, competing against each other on a level playing field. Watching people deal with fear of hunger and fear of death and fear of tomorrow. You must have wondered: 'How would I do, if I were human?'"

Lex brought back his leg and shot a vicious kick into his ribs. Clark gasped, both at the pain and at the entirely unfamiliar sensation of a bone breaking.

"I have to say, Clark, you don't seem to be handling it very well."

Lex knelt down and pulled the piece of kryptonite out of the box, revealing that it had been attached to a chain. He wound it around Clark's neck, fixing the ends together to form a necklace. He then patted Clark on the cheek, surprisingly gentle.

"You really ought to be thanking me, you know. After all, few things are as valuable as self-knowledge."

With a grunt, Lex hoisted himself to his feet. He looked around for a moment before picking up a loose board on the ground that he swung with some vigor at Clark's head, mercifully rendering him unconscious.

ooOoo 


	2. Chapter 2

AN: As usual, all reviews are appreciated.

ooOoo

The President of the United States stepped up to the podium. Behind him were the leaders of the eight strongest economies in the world, and in front of him stood a throng of reporters hailing from around the world, hanging on his every word. Ten years ago he never could have dreamed of commanding this kind of attention; today it was just the backdrop for a perfunctory speech he had to deliver before heading to the back room where the real work of the summit could began.

Just as he was about to speak the hall was filled with the ear-splitting wail of electronic feedback. The monitors lining the room flashed briefly to a burst of static before resolving into a closeup shot of a man's face. He was lit from behind, the light glinting off of his bald head and casting the bulk of his expression in shadow. Even so the glint of cruel intelligence in his eyes was plain to see.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man said, "I apologize for the interruption, but I just couldn't bear to wait to share the good news."

The President knew that his duty in this kind of situation was to remain calm and collected. Project leadership. As much as he personally might want to punch this crackpot in the face, that would be un-presidential. He had people do that sort of thing for him. Glancing to his right, he saw that his head of security was quietly tearing somebody a new asshole. Good. They should have this sideshow shut down soon.

"For months now, we've lived under the watchful gaze of an alien overlord. Every decision subject to a potential veto if Superman should happen to disapprove," the man continued, shaking his head. "But today, I bring you a gift. Today, humanity is free."

The video cut away from the man's face to show a more recognizable figure. Superman, wearing his iconic uniform, was shackled hand and foot to the wall of a prison cell. His back was arched in agony as his features were cast in green by the light coming from a strange crystal attached to his chest.

That changed things. The military wasn't sure if Superman could be defeated short of the use of nuclear weapons. They weren't sure he could be defeated with the use of nuclear weapons, either. For some random guy to take Superman prisoner was frightening. The video could be a fake, but every second that went by without Superman showing up to expose the hoax acted as proof of its authenticity.

As the audience watched in stunned silence, the screen switched back to a display of their mysterious interloper. Though his face was still hard to make out, the corners of his eyes were crinkled up as though by a broad grin.

"Well, no need to thank me, I was acting in pursuit of a higher calling," the man said, before pausing. "Although, if you do want to thank me, I think... oh, a hundred billion dollars sounds about right. Just make the check out to Lex Luthor... On second thought, you should probably wire the funds to the bank accounts I identified in the email I just sent you all."

"You must be joking," the President replied. Even if he wanted to buy this guy off-and it was a little tempting, pending an investigation into just how he had subdued Superman-there was no way he could back down from such a public challenge. One hundred percent of the American public was going to be aligned with his own personal first instinct of wanting to introduce Lex Luthor to the business end of a Hellfire missile.

"I suppose it's too much to expect a politician to understand the value of freedom," Luthor replied, heaving a theatrical sigh. "Which is why I've prepared a little demonstration of my new technology. After today I'll be taking it on a world tour. I'm afraid the precise route of the tour will be confidential, but the good news is that you can remove a city from the list for the low price of fifty million dollars. Adding a city will cost one hundred million dollars. A bargain, if I do say so myself."

"The United States does not negotiate with terrorists."

Lex Luthor threw back his head and laughed. "I don't expect you to negotiate, Mr. President. I expect you to capitulate."

With that he vanished from the screen and the room burst into quiet pandemonium. The President wasted no time walking over to his head of security.

"What the hell just happened?"

"The technology used to hack into our systems was like nothing I've ever seen before. The attack vectors it was using... it's not something I even thought was possible. I don't-"

The report was cut off as the room suddenly shook, sending most of the occupants staggering and knocking a few people off their feet. The security chief's face went pale as he brought his hand up to his ear piece and asked for confirmation of what he had just heard.

"Mr. President, we have to get you out of here. Now."

ooOoo

Clark had never really experienced pain. Oh, he had suffered his share of emotional disappointment, just like any other teenager, but he had never understood regular old physical pain except by analogy. He knew that a backache was something like a heartache located in your back, but he didn't have the context to understand what that meant.

Lex had remedied that defect in his education. When he first came to, it wasn't that bad. He was chained to the wall and, thanks to the kryptonite around his neck, experienced the novel sensation of tugging against a binding and completely failing to dislodge it. But he wasn't actually in pain.

That came over time. Over the hours his leg muscles started to tremble, sending a message to his brain that they couldn't hold him up much longer. When he stopped supporting himself from his legs he hung suspended from the manacles around his wrists, creating the twin problem of chafing at the wrists and soreness in his shoulder joints. He kept cycling between different postures, but he couldn't find any way to hold himself without those urgent pain signals being driven into his brain from somewhere.

He didn't know how long he'd been at it when the door opened. The light that came in let him look around his makeshift prison-adjusting to the loss of his super senses had been almost as jarring as the experience with pain-revealing that he was locked in an abandoned warehouse of some kind.

A slim figure entered through the door, turning to flip on the overhead lights before allowing the door to swing shut. It was a woman, but not anybody Clark recognized. She was blonde, and pretty in a sort of generic way. She also looked surprisingly nervous as she approached him.

"You're that Superman guy that's been in the news?"

"I am," Clark said, as gently as he could. She didn't look at all reassured by the fact that he was shackled to the wall by both hand and foot.

"But you can't do anything because of that krypto-whatsit?"

"I can't," Clark confirmed. He waited for a moment, but she seemed lost in thought. "I'm sorry I don't recognize you, Miss..."

"Teschmacher. Eve Teschmacher," she said, snapping out of her reverie. "Lex said he had a line on a big score, but what he's doing now... it's not something that I signed up for... all those people."

Clark wanted to press her for more information, but he didn't want to scare her off. He did his best to give her an understanding look.

"If I let you go, will you go save the people? Before you try and arrest everybody, I mean."

"Saving people is what I do," Clark said, keeping his eyes on hers. He could see it the moment she reached a decision.

"Ok," she said, nodding firmly. "Lex didn't trust me with the keys to the chains, but I don't think you'll need any."

With that, she pulled a metal box out of her purse and stepped forward. She lifted the kryptonite necklace off over his head and dropped it the box before snapping it shut with an audible click.

The change was immediate. All of his aches and pains vanished without a trace, and Clark immediately tore the shackles off his wrists and ankles as though they were made of playdoh. His ability to see through walls came back, and Clark was about to thank Miss Teschmacher for her help when he caught his breath at the sight of why she had asked for his help.

He rocketed through the wall of the warehouse, his eyes never leaving his destination as he weaved through the city skyline. He was headed for an intersection currently occupied by a mechanical monstrosity.

His target stood over two stories tall. It was humanoid in appearance, though its overall look was more simian than human. It was made out of interlocking segments of crystal, though any impression of delicacy was refuted as the thing shrugged off a point blank shot from a main battle tank before almost casually bringing its arm down, demolishing the state of the art military hardware.

It didn't look like anything built on earth because it-or at least the design-didn't come from earth. Clark recognized it as a Kryptonian battle droid. The database his birth father had left for him had included a description of the things, describing how they were used in combat environments that were inhospitable to Kryptonians. They were said not to be as combat capable as a fully powered Kryptonian, but they were well beyond anything Earth technology could deal with. The trail of destruction leading back from the droid toward the edge of the city was testimony to that fact.

Clark had no idea how Lex had gotten ahold of the thing, although his ability to dig up something like kryptonite-a substance Clark had had no idea even existed-suggested a disturbing ability to gather information. Clark intended to have a long, frank discussion with his "friend" as soon as he had a free minute.

He arrived at the intersection just as a panel peeled back from the chest of the droid, allowing a red beam of destruction to spring forth. It was headed for one of the attack helicopters currently engaged in fruitless harassment of the alien menace, but Clark was able to get in front of the attack and take it on the chest. It hurt, but he could tell that it wasn't doing any real damage to him, which was a lot better than what would have happened if it had been allowed to plow through the helicopter.

Clark turned to see the pilot looking at him with some gratitude. Clark gave him a friendly wave, then gestured at him to clear out. He didn't have any kind of official authority to order the military around, but he could see a look of relief in the pilot's expression as he peeled away, recognizing that the military wasn't doing much more than sacrificing their lives in exchange for momentarily distracting their attacker.

Clark didn't have time to hover around as the droid switched off its beam weapon and instead moved to bring another hammer blow down on one of the tanks that was parked in its way-part of a line of tanks aiming to blockade the street. Clark could see civilian evacuation still going on scarcely a mile beyond the line of tanks, and he was touched by the willingness of the National Guard to sacrifice their lives in order to give the fleeing civilians a better chance of survival.

Fortunately, with Superman around, no sacrifice would be necessary. Clark darted down and caught the descending blow with his arms crossed above his head. The shockwave from the impact blew out windows up and down the street, but Clark stayed fixed in place. With a quick shove he sent the arm flying upwards, staggering the droid and forcing it to stagger backwards.

He took advantage of the momentary opening to fly in, landing a straight punch to the droid's shoulder. The impact forced the droid to continue backpedaling, a spiderweb of cracks appearing around the joint. Clark spun about in mid air and stomped down, smashing his heel into the same weak spot. This time the droid was spun about on its axis as more cracks appeared around its shoulder.

Clark could see the cracks start to fade as the droid's self-repair mechanisms came on line, but he had no intention of allowing it the respite it needed to get back up to 100%. Now that it was facing away from the military vehicles, Clark closed in. He grabbed the upper arm in a bearhug and used his flight powers for balance as he brought both feet up to push against the droid's body.

The droid was flailing at him with its other arm, but Clark gritted his teeth and ignored the attacks as he poured on the power. Finally there was a tremendous shattering noise as the arm ripped free. Clark shot backwards at the sudden lack of resistance and caught himself in mid-air half a block away, still holding the detached arm.

The droid had clearly forgotten all about the military as it turned to face Clark. The chest panel slid back once more as a thicker beam of energy started to collect inside its chest cavity. Clark ignored the threat as he brought the arm up into position and dashed forward. The droid unleashed the beam attack when he had covered about half the distance between them. It hurt-it felt like the time Lex had kicked him in the ribs while he was under the influence of the kryptonite-but Clark grit his teeth and didn't allow it to slow him down. Less than a second later the detached fist plowed right through the droid's chest, smashing through its beam weapon to destroy the power generator beneath.

There was a very satisfying series of secondary explosions before the droid collapsed to the ground, inert.

Clark let himself drop to the ground and relax, but just for a moment. There was still work to be done.

ooOoo

Clark was in a somber mood when he returned to his apartment that night. His powers were a tremendous asset in search and rescue type operations, but the droid had been thorough in its destruction. Depressingly few of the people within the zone of destruction it had inflicted had survived for long enough to be rescued. All too often the only help he had been able to give was to use his x-ray vision to identify the dead.

Lex had a lot to answer for. Unfortunately, he seemed to have disappeared. Clark had searched through half of North America without turning up hide nor hair of Lex or the elusive Miss Teschmacher. Clark wasn't used to failure-even if it was probably only a temporary setback-and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

When he got out of the elevator he discovered that the day had one more surprise in store for him.

"Lois?"

"Smallville!" Lois snapped at him, but it didn't take x-ray vision to see the concern in her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"I was trying to find out what's going on," Clark said. He took a quick scan through the door to verify that nobody was waiting for them in the apartment as he stepped by Lois and unlocked the door. She followed him in without any prompting, which struck Clark as a little presumptuous.

"You couldn't call?"

"Non-emergency calls weren't getting through when I had a chance to check," Clark said, which was technically true. He stepped into the kitchen and pulled down a pair of wine glasses. He had a bottle of red wine left over from his housewarming party, and this seemed like the kind of day that ought to end in a drink. It wouldn't do much for him, but Lois could probably use it.

"You came all this way to check on me?" Clark asked.

"Hey, I'm allowed to worry," Lois said, stepping into his personal space. She blushed slightly when Clark raised an eyebrow. "And I figured you would probably have sniffed out some good stories. I haven't been able to get in touch with any of my usual sources, and the military has most of the city on lockdown."

Clark shook his head, bemused. Apparently now that her latest fling had turned out evil, Lois felt free to flirt with him. It was almost as though she thought he didn't know how recently she had picked another Smallville native over him.

"I would have thought you could write a solid piece on Lex."

"Lex Luthor?" Lois cocked her head to the side. "I'd be happy to write about him if I knew anything about that maniac."

Clark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he counted to five. He was still pretty upset.

"You should go, Lois."

"What?" Clark opened his eyes in time to see that the hurt in her voice was reflected in her expression. "Clark, I-"

"Lois... I just can't handle this right now. Please, just leave."

The pain in her expression quickly shifted into anger. She turned and stomped over to the door, then turned to face Clark over her shoulder.

"I can't believe I fell for that aw shucks farm boy act. I actually thought we might have something special... I guess I was just a fool."

She slammed the door behind her on her way out, and Clark stared after her in confusion. He could see the tears in her eyes as she stalked down the hallway, which suggested that her emotions were genuine. But what on earth did she have to be upset about?

From what she was saying, it was almost as if she had some kind of intimate relations with Clark, but he was pretty sure that was the kind of thing he would have remembered, and he had a distinct memory of Lois going home with... the memory seemed fuzzy now, distorted. Clark frowned as he tried to dredge it up.

"I should have known she would give the game away," an all too familiar voice spoke up from behind him. "Still worth it."

Clark spun around to see Lex Luthor standing in his bedroom. Lex was casually tapping a green crystal against his kitchen counter, and Clark felt the strength draining out of his body. Still, this time it wasn't as much of a shock as it was before, and Clark was able to gather himself and spring forward in a full body tackle.

Lex didn't move, and Clark's shoulder hit right at his sternum... and passed on through. The rest of Clark soon followed, and the shock at the lack of resistance tripped him up and left him sprawled out on the floor. He turned himself around and stared up at Lex, trying to process what just happened.

"Come on, Clark," Lex said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Use that head for something besides smashing alien war machines."

Clark kept staring while he sifted through his memories. He remembered sitting at the bar... by himself. Playing a game of pool... by himself. Smashing up a perfectly innocent plate glass window, talking to Lois, going home with Lois... Clark blushed at the memory.

"I see you got to the good bit," Lex said. His disappointed look was replaced with a knowing smirk.

"This is impossible," Clark protested.

"Impossible?" Lex asked, shaking his head. "You wear a cape and fly around the city rescuing kittens from trees, Clark."

"No. No, I don't believe it. This must be some kind of trick. Holograms, maybe, or-"

He stopped talking when Lex stopped listening and started laughing. It took a moment for him to finish. He set the kryptonite crystal down on the counter and squatted down to give Clark a sympathetic pat on the knee.

"Hey, I get it. Self-examination is an uncomfortable thing. Don't worry, Clark, it's not like you were born with something wrong with you," Lex said. "Far from it. You were a perfectly normal kid. Only "normal" wasn't good enough, was it? Ma and Pa drilled that lesson home. You could never get angry. Never retaliate. Never show off. Never step out of line. You keep pushing those kinds of feelings down for long enough, who knows what might happen?"

Lex fixed Clark with a serious look, then continued.

"I'm not your evil twin or anything like that, Clark. I'm you. I'm just free."

"You're crazy!" Clark said. The idea that Lex was his well-adjusted side wasn't something that he could accept. "You killed hundreds of people."

"What do a few hundred deaths really matter, anyways? Everybody saw you save thousands, after all," Lex said. "A guy who single handedly solves all the crime in a city is a little weird and frightening. But somebody who fights off a menace the army couldn't even scratch? Now that's something special."

In a way, it almost sounded like he was giving a pep talk.

"You think you're... helping me?"

"The thing is, you can't really be a superhero if you're not fighting off super villains, can you? Don't worry, I've got plenty of plans for the future," Lex said. The smirk was back as he straightened up. "Although the first thing I'm going to have to do is smooth things over with Lois. You really screwed up there, Clark. On the bright side, this does open up the possibility of some make-up sex."

"No! I won't let you play with her life!"

Clark found a reserve of strength deep inside and dragged himself to his feet. He grabbed the abandoned piece of kryptonite and shoved it into his mouth. As badly as it hindered him when it was outside his body, he figured the damage would be much worse on the inside. He was surprised when it broke apart easily when he bit down on it, but put that aside as he swallowed as much of the deadly crystal as he could.

He waited for a long moment for the kryptonite to kick in. The silent anticipation was broken by another bout of laughter from Lex.

"Sad to say, Clark, a little bit of glass isn't even going to give you indigestion," Lex said.

Lex suddenly flickered and transformed into the familiar form of Eve Teschmacher. She shook her head sadly.

"I thought you were smarter than that. The only thing on this planet that can hurt you is you, Clark."

Clark looked down as he felt the novel, yet strangely familiar, sensation of his right arm drawing back on its own to launch a punch into his jaw. When it crashed home he found himself falling backwards into unconsciousness once more.

ooOoo

AN: I did warn you guys this would be derivative. 


End file.
